Taught by God
Faith in Jesus is not the fruit of sheer human effort; it is a grace of God. It is the Father who draws men and women to Jesus and, ultimately, to himself. Jesus says that this has already been prophesied: “They shall all be taught by God” (Is 54:13).
The Isaian oracle says that the people of Judah who have come back from the Babylonian exile are afflicted and confused.
God promises that he himself will impart to them true knowledge of salvation they so direly need. Being “taught by God” is a promise of future salvation.
Jeremiah ties this with the gift of the new covenant: all people shall come to know the Lord, from the least to the greatest (31:33-34).
In the New Testament, God teaches the believers how to love one another (1 Thes 4:9). God offers salvation to all — Jews and Gentiles alike. But the Jews do not want to receive God’s offer in the manner he wants them to receive it, namely, by coming to Jesus.
Still, nothing is impossible with God. “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him” (v 44) is intended to show that “coming to Jesus” is not a matter of one’s own “knowledge” and possibilities.
Faith and salvation have their radical reference to God who calls a person to do what he or she cannot do of himself taught by god. Faith in Jesus is not the fruit of sheer human effort; it is a grace of God. It is the Father who draws men and women to Jesus and, ultimately, to himself. Jesus says that this has already been prophesied: “They shall all be taught by God” (Is 54:13).
The Isaian oracle says that the people of Judah who have come back from the Babylonian exile are afflicted and confused. God promises that he himself will impart to them true knowledge of salvation they so direly need. Being “taught by God” is a promise of future salvation. Jeremiah ties this with the gift of the new covenant: all people shall come to know the Lord, from the least to the greatest (31:33-34).
In the New Testament, God teaches the believers how to love one another (1 Thes 4:9). God offers salvation to all—jews and Gentiles alike. But the Jews do not want to receive God’s offer in the manner he wants them to receive it, namely, by coming to Jesus. Still, nothing is impossible with God. “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him” (v 44) is intended to show that “coming to Jesus” is not a matter of one’s own “knowledge” and possibilities.
Faith and salvation have their radical reference to God who calls a person to do what he or she cannot do of himself.
Gospel • John 6:44-51
Jesus said to the crowds: “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day.
It is written in the prophets: They shall all be taught by God. Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father.
Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my Flesh for the life of the world.”